10 Tips for Teaching Your Kid to Drive

Have another adult be the driving teacher you want to be -- and if you're really brave, have them also be the teacher you're likely to be. (Creative Commons/Flickr/Joe Shlabotnik)

This is your chance to be the Robert De Niro or Cate Blanchett of the suburbs. Get in the driver's seat and have another adult -- maybe your spouse, maybe your own parent, maybe a frenemy -- sit in the passenger seat and tell you how to drive. That's right. Have them tell you where the pedals are, how the turn signals work, where the switch for the headlights is located. Have them offer encouragement to you as you pull out of the driveway. Have them be the driving teacher you want to be.

And if you're brave, have them also be the teacher you're likely to be. Try it when you come to your first stop sign, which your teacher doesn't think you see. So he screams, "Stop. Stop! STOP!" He stomps his imaginary brake. He clutches his chest as you stop in a way that you feel is perfectly fine. Which is when you say to him: "Fine. Gawd." For those of you who are advanced actors, you may dismissively blow your bangs out of your eyes. Remember how annoying that was. Be the better teacher.